1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a data communication apparatus and, more particularly, to a data communication apparatus of the type in which received data is capable of being managed upon being stored on an external storage medium that can be loaded and unloaded. The invention relates also to a method of managing the received data.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a conventional data communication apparatus of the kind in which received data is capable of being stored on an external storage medium that can be loaded and unloaded, such as a floppy disk, the diskette storing the received data is specific to the communication apparatus which has received the data.
In this example of the prior art, therefore, the received data stored on the diskette cannot be printed out by another data communication apparatus. In addition, if the management of the received data stored on the diskette is inadequate and it is therefore attempted to print out the data using another data communication apparatus, an accident may occur in which the received data or managed data is destroyed.
Consequently, if, as the result of xe2x80x9csubstitutional receptionxe2x80x9d performed due to depletion of recording paper or a malfunction in the recording system, the data has been stored on an unloadable storage medium such as a floppy disk which can be ejected from the data communication apparatus while it preserves the data, it is impossible to print out the received data on another data communication apparatus having a normal recording system. The xe2x80x9csubstitutional receptionxe2x80x9d, herein, represents that image data is received and stored into a memory or a floppy disk when the recording system fails to output the image data.
Furthermore, it is impossible for a received image, which has been stored on a medium such as a floppy disk by a data communication apparatus having, say, a thermosensitive recording system, to be printed out using a data communication apparatus having a recording system which employs a laser-beam printer capable of producing high-quality images.
For these reasons, in an apparatus which stores received data on a floppy disk, the capability of a device such as a non-volatile, unloadable floppy disk and the effects gained by using such a device have not heretofore been brought out to the maximum degree.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a data communication apparatus, as well as a method of managing received data, in which received data is managed upon being stored on an unloadable external storage medium, thereby greatly improving convenience.
According to the present invention, the foregoing object is attained by providing a data communication apparatus capable of managing received data upon storing the received data on an external storage medium that can be loaded and unloaded, comprising control means for controlling access to the external storage medium, managing means for managing received data accessed by the control means, and recording means for recording the received data managed by the managing means.
In a preferred embodiment, the received data is stored on the external storage medium if it cannot be recorded by the recording means.
In another preferred embodiment, the managing means manages information which specifies an apparatus by which the received data has been stored, information which specifies the received data, information which indicates status of recording, and information which indicates the type of the received data.
In another preferred embodiment, the recording means records the received data if the received data managed by the managing means was stored by another apparatus and has not yet been recorded.
In another preferred embodiment, the apparatus further comprises timekeeping means for clocking time, and notification means for notifying of the time at which the external storage medium was unloaded, and of the fact that the storage medium has been unloaded, based upon time clocked by the timekeeping means.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a data communication apparatus, as well as a method of managing received data, in which a floppy disk storing received data may be managed by a plurality of apparatus, thereby making it possible to output the received data and to readily ascertain the status of the floppy disk.
According to the present invention, the foregoing object is attained by providing a data communication apparatus having an external storage device, in which received data is capable of being stored in an unloadable external storage medium, comprising storing means for storing information, capable of being communicated to the apparatus itself, in the external storage medium along with the received data, and notification means which, upon receiving information from another apparatus relating to the external storage medium, gives notice of this information.
In another aspect of the invention, the foregoing object is attained by providing a data communication apparatus having an external storage device, in which data stored on an unloadable external storage medium is capable of being outputted, comprising transmitting means for transmitting a result of data output and identification information indicative of the apparatus itself to an apparatus which has received data, based upon communication information already stored on the external storage medium.
According to the present invention, the foregoing object is attained by providing a received-data managing method in a reception system capable of storing received data on an unloadable external storage medium and of outputting the received data by a second apparatus other than a first apparatus which originally received the data, characterized in that the first apparatus stores information, which is capable of being communicated to the first apparatus itself, on the external storage medium along with the received data, and the second apparatus, which has outputted the received data, transmits results of output, as well as information capable of identifying the first apparatus itself, to the first apparatus based upon information capable of being communicated to the first apparatus.
The information capable of identifying the first apparatus itself contains information capable of being communicated to the first apparatus itself.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the figures thereof.